. Some successful Americans . und of cotton from the seeds, saidone. ^ What a pity that there is no mechanical device fordoing the work! At this Mrs. Greene said, Gentlemen, apply to my youngfriend here, Mr. Whitney. He can make anything. It happened that Mr. Whitney had never seen any cottonas it comes from the plant, but when some was brought tohim he undertook the task of making a suitable worked under great difficulties, as he had to make hisown tools. There was no wire to be had in Savannah, andhe was compelled to draw wire for his own use. Afterseveral months work his machine
. Some successful Americans . und of cotton from the seeds, saidone. ^ What a pity that there is no mechanical device fordoing the work! At this Mrs. Greene said, Gentlemen, apply to my youngfriend here, Mr. Whitney. He can make anything. It happened that Mr. Whitney had never seen any cottonas it comes from the plant, but when some was brought tohim he undertook the task of making a suitable worked under great difficulties, as he had to make hisown tools. There was no wire to be had in Savannah, andhe was compelled to draw wire for his own use. Afterseveral months work his machine was completed. Withthe exception of Mrs. Greene and a neighbor named Miller, I50 SOME SUCCESSFUL AMERICANS no one knew of his work. Mr. Miller, who afterwards mar-ried Mrs. Greene, was a native of Connecticut and, likeWhitney, a graduate of Yale. He was a lawyer by profes-sion and had a decided taste for mechanics. Upon the completion of the cotton gin several prominentgentlemen from various parts of the state were invited to. Early Cotton Gin be present at a test of its work. The experiment was acomplete success. The machine would do the work ofhundreds of men, and through its use cotton raising becameimmensely profitable. The value of this invention, espe-cially to the South, can hardly be estimated. No otherinvention, unless it be the reaper, has added so much tothe wealth of the country. ELI WHITNEY 151 The cotton gin was invented in 1793. In 1791 the UnitedStates had exported less than 20,000 pounds of cotton. In1828 the crop was 270,000,000 pounds. In i860 it hadincreased to 4,669,770 bales ; in 1899 to 11,335,383 bales,a bale weighing a little less than 500 pounds. In 1815 the price of the cheapest kind of cotton clothwas thirty cents a yard. In 1830 it was ten cents ; in 1840,eight cents ; and it has sold as low as three cents a yard. Mr. Whitney entered into partnership with Mrs. Greeneand Mr. Miller to manufacture and sell the cotton gin,Mrs. Greene and Mr. Miller fur
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